Voicemail systems allow telephone callers to leave recorded messages for called parties when the called parties are unavailable. Most voicemail systems record messages if the called party's phone line is either in use or does not answer. In either case, the voicemail system answers the phone call and records the message. Typically, the message is digitized and stored on a computer hard disk for later playback by the called party.
To play recorded messages, a mailbox owner calls the voicemail system and accesses stored voice messages using a sequence of touchtone or voice commands. In response to these commands, the voicemail system can perform various functions with respect to message playback. For example, a mailbox owner can fast forward, rewind, delete or skip a message during playback. In some voicemail systems, during a message playback, the listener can fast forward or rewind either to the end of the message or a specific amount of time. Using these voicemail systems to play back specific middle portions of messages, it is frequently the case that listeners must repeatedly enter fast-forward commands to get the systems to skip ahead to the desired places in the messages.
Although the playback functions of currently-available voicemail systems are adequate in many situations, there is room for improvement. For instance, some users may find it inconvenient and time consuming to select specific portions of messages for playback using conventional fast forward and rewind functions available with some voicemail systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved voicemail system that permits users to conveniently select portions of stored messages for playback.